North Bay to heat up, dry out after weekend clouds, rain

After a weekend of cloudy morning skies and scattered showers, which dropped up to ½ an inch of rain in localized spots, North Bay residents will experience drier conditions and a bit of a heat-up this week, according to the National Weather Service.

The weekend storms, which were initially expected to hit just east of the region, began overnight Friday and continued through the day on Saturday, said meteorologist Sean Miller, with the agency’s Monterey office.

Most areas got about one-tenth to one-hundredth of an inch of rain, but locally the afternoon storms dropped between one-fifth and ½ an inch, particularly in parts of Cloverdale, Napa and Healdsburg, according to the weather service.

“That’s exactly the case with these being showers and not a line,” Miller said. “It’s quite variable for folks.”

While most rainfall recorded was around predicted levels, overall some areas received a much higher concentration due to the second round of showers.

For the month of September, Sonoma County recorded just under one-fifth of an inch of rainfall, according to the gauge at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport. Normal accumulation for September is about one-tenth of an inch less.

Napa recorded just under two-fifths of an inch. It’s normal amount is around one-tenth of an inch.

Until last week, neither spots had accumulated any rain since early summer.

These rains will help keep the region from drying out too quickly during the approaching warming period, Miller said.

Temperatures will begin heating up Monday and by Wednesday will reach into the mid-80s in places such as Healdsburg and Napa.

On Thursday and Friday, the hottest days of the week, temperatures will peak in the upper-80s or lower-90s.

The weather service issued a moderate heat risk for Wednesday and Thursday for some areas in the North Bay, mainly in the Sonoma County valleys.

On Saturday, temperatures will cool slightly but will likely remain in the 80s, Miller said.

The higher pressure pushing temperatures up will also compress the region’s marine layer, reducing clouds and keeping them nearer to the coast.

“Some places may still have morning clouds, especially closer to the coast,” Miller said. “But the inland areas, even if they do see clouds, they should mix out pretty quickly during the morning.”

As a result, minimum relative humidities could approach 30% or lower in non-coastal areas. Cloverdale could drop to 26% on Wednednesday and Thursday.

Although the hotter temperatures will likely assist in drying out the vegetation that recently benefited from the rainfall, there are no other weather conditions anticipated which will cause the weather service to issue a fire weather statement or red flag alert, Miller said.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.